ICC should have carried out more research before introducing UDRS: Latif

Lahore: Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif reckons that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should have carried out thorough research before the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) was implemented in all formats of cricket.

“It’s very easy to sit in the commentary box and predict the line of a delivery, but the line of that delivery could well be very different to what the current technology is displaying. The ICC should have invested in more research into the technology before introducing it,” said Latif.

“Look at the example of tennis, thorough research was carried out before the technology was implemented and it took a long time before it was fully introduced. However for cricket it seems to have been rushed through,” he added.

He also said that all decisions should not be taken away from the umpire and referred to the review system.

“I think that only bat/pad decisions should be referred. I don’t think that leg before decisions should be referred unless a batsman feels that he has hit the ball,” Latif said.

“It needs to be 100 percent accurate before it’s used for leg before decisions and that’s why I prefer that leg before decisions should remain in the hands of the umpire at the moment.”

“Too many LBW decisions are being given out, which I feel are not actually out, especially when it comes to predicting the line of a delivery,” he added.

The former wicketkeeper further said that there should be some punishment system for batsmen who deliberately ask for referrals and are subsequently given out.

“The punishment for the batsman should be that he should not be eligible to ask for a referral next time he bats,” Latif said.

The ICC has decided to make the UDRS mandatory in all Tests and ODIs after rectifying the problem areas in the technology at the ICC Annual Conference in Hong Kong earlier this week.